 | | A cardinal perches on a branch after a fresh snowfall. Photo: Kelly Beckta |
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Photos of the Week for the month of November |
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| Other photos we featured in November included a bluebird hunting for grub (photo by Heather Cook), a shot of the sunrise on Nail Pond Beach, P.E.I. by Jamie Fitzgerald, a quiet morning swim for some ducks in Hamilton, Ont. (photo by Garrine Tsang) and a view of the Milky Way from Puzzle Lake Provincial Park in Ontario from Jason Wilde.
We choose a new photo every Monday to be our banner images on Facebook and Twitter, plus we share the picture on Instagram too!
Want to see your photos featured? Be sure to join and upload to our Photo Club. |
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Cold Weather Photography Tips from Daisy Gilardini |
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The beginning of cold weather outside means many things: an earlier sunset, snowy weather and the holiday season, but most importantly, cold weather photography season! One of our Canadian Geographic Photographers-in-Residence, Daisy Gilardini, has put together her best tips to shoot your shot in the colder weather:
Dress Properly: Clothing is essential! If you are cold you won’t be able to enjoy photography. You need to dress in layers. The air trapped among the many thin, warm layers is an excellent insulator and you will be able to strip them off, one at a time if the temperature climbs.
Waterproof Camera Bag/Backpack: Protect your camera from the elements by carrying your equipment in a camera bag of backpack. When you take your camera out of the bag remember to close it. The outside fabric may be waterproof, but doesn’t help if snow and rain find their way inside.
Batteries: Batteries do not like cold, they will freeze and die. Lithium batteries last longer and they cope better in cold situations. I always carry at least two sets of spare batteries for each body I’m going to shoot with and sometimes, in extremely cold conditions (- 50°C), I found it helpful to keep them as close as possible to my body and in the same pocket where I have chemical hand warmers working.
Protect Your Gear: Humidity and condensation are your biggest enemies when shooting in cold climates. The electronics of your camera is extremely sensitive to humidity and if a camera fails this is usually the reason. If snowing or raining keep your camera dry by using a special raincoat or cover it with whatever is handy, a cloth, a towel or a plastic bag or better all together. Remember that when you transit from cold environment to a warmer one condensation is forming on your equipment, exactly how it forms on your glasses when you are entering a warm room coming from outside.
When coming back home after a day shooting, before entering the door, remember to take out the batteries and the memory cards from your camera, close your bag and DO NOT open it for a while (two to three hours depending on how cold it was outside). This will allow the camera to slowly warm without creating any condensation. You will still be able to start working at your images and re-charge your batteries as you have extracted them from the camera while still in the cold. Another trick is to place all your equipment in small zip lock plastic bags. The condensation will form around the plastic instead of your equipment. Wait until the camera is warm to open the plastic bag.
Exposure Compensation: The white snow can fool the camera meter especially on an overcast day. As the camera meter standard is mid tone you will probably end with an underexposed image resulting in your snow to be grey instead of white. Always check your histogram and manually adjust the camera’s exposure by compensating and over exposing to achieve the white. Be however careful not to “burn” your white.
And now that you know all about sub-zero photography, get ready and get out … the best news is that in winter time the sun is slow in the horizon, the sunrise and sunset last forever and the light is superb!
Follow Daisy on Instagram: @daisygilardini |
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